Women’s Voice and Leadership in Mali (WVL–Musoya)

Although Mali’s laws state the country’s commitment to defending the rights of women and children and prohibiting gender-based discrimination, women and girls still face many obstacles when it comes to exercising their civil, political, economic and social rights.

Since 2012, a political and security crisis in Mali has thrust the country into a climate of instability, where extremism is increasing the prevalence of gender-based violence and limiting women’s and girls’ access to basic social services. The legal measures that were instituted to support women’s participation in politics are not being applied. Organizations defending the women’s and girls’ rights are, themselves, struggling to coordinate their actions due to a lack of leadership and spaces for communication, discussion and reflection.

The purpose of the WVL Musoya project is for women and girls in Mali to fully avail themselves of their rights, and to advance gender equality in the country. With this as our aim, we support organizations and networks that promote women’s and girls’ rights. We enable them to improve their services, advocacy efforts and operations.

Optimizing services for women and girls 

We work with women’s organizations and networks to optimize the quality of services we offer to women and girls by adopting innovative approaches. The project activities build our partners’ capacities to use technology to reach people who are in a vulnerable socioeconomic situation. We also facilitate the development and implementation of joint initiatives between organizations and networks by providing spaces for exchange and collaboration.

Increasing effectiveness of women’s rights advocacy

To enable women’s organizations and networks to make their voices heard and have greater influence on the laws and policies that affect them, we assist them in learning more about Malian and international legislative frameworks pertaining to women’s rights. We also support collaboration and the coordination of joint actions to raise public awareness of gender equality issues and to ask decision-makers for positive and sustainable change in this direction. 

Institutional strengthening of organizations and women’s networks

Local community organizations are the key stakeholders in defending women’s rights, promoting women’s leadership and advancing gender equality in Mali. The project aims to build their institutional, human, technical and financial capacities. We coach these organizations and networks in adopting innovative management and programming practices to support their viability. We are particularly concerned with the place of young girls within these structures, as they are the next generation.